The Public Doubts the Degree but Still Values Universities
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Show notes
A third of the public in England now say a degree isn't worth the time and money, yet goodwill towards universities has held up. I explain why the sector should lead with public value rather than defending the price of the product.
- Lead with what universities do for everyone.
- Make research personal and local, and work with competitors on a shared story.
- Answer the value question honestly and measure public trust.
Full transcript
Hello, and welcome to Marketing Greats in Higher Education. I'm Jonathan Sabarre, your host, and this is where we explore the ideas shaping how universities are seen, chosen and trusted around the world. Everything I share on this show is my own personal view.
In June, NatCen published the latest British Social Attitudes findings on higher education, and the headline numbers were stark. In England, thirty-four per cent now agree that a university education isn't worth the time and money it usually takes. In 2005, it was fourteen per cent. Yet the same research points to something far more hopeful, and I think it's the sector's biggest opportunity!
Over the same period, the share who think graduates end up a lot better off financially has fallen from fifty per cent to thirty-six per cent. Asked separately, seventy-seven per cent said a degree isn't good value for money at current prices, up from fifty-one per cent when the question was last asked in 2014. Those are uncomfortable numbers for anyone who markets a university.
But goodwill towards universities as institutions has held up far better than confidence in the degree as a personal investment. As Wonkhe put it, the public seems to like its universities but not its degrees. For a decade, most of our public argument has rested on graduate earnings: go to university and you'll be better off. That case was always narrower than what universities actually do.
And it's now the part of the story the public believes least, at the very moment the graduate jobs market is tightening. Meanwhile, the case people do accept is barely made. Universities train the nurses, teachers and engineers a region depends on. They run research that changes treatment in local hospitals. They anchor city economies and regenerate whole neighbourhoods. We keep defending the price of the product, while the public is telling us it values the institution.
So what would I ask every university leader to do? First, lead with public value. In national and regional messaging, start with what universities do for everyone, not only what a degree does for the individual. It's the argument people are ready to hear. Second, make research personal and local. Talk about a named treatment in a local hospital, a business saved by a partnership, or a school transformed by better-trained teachers.
Impact case studies written for funders rarely land with the public, but specific stories do. Third, work with your competitors. No single university can shift national opinion. Mission groups, regional consortia and sector bodies need a shared, sustained story, told consistently by institutions that usually compete for the same students. I chaired the Russell Group's marketing forum long enough to know how hard that is, and how much it's worth when it works.
Fourth, answer the value question honestly. Where a course genuinely leads to strong outcomes, show the evidence. Where the picture is mixed, say what you're doing about it. Defensiveness only deepens the doubt. Fifth, measure public trust as well as applicant demand. Recruitment can stay healthy while public confidence erodes, and those two things can drift apart for years.
So track what local and national audiences think of you, because politicians and funders certainly do. Public goodwill towards universities is still there, but it won't last indefinitely without a better argument. The institutions, and the sector, that start making the case for public value now will be in a far stronger position when the next funding settlement or policy fight arrives.
So this term, look at your own messaging and ask how much of it is about the product, and how much is about what you give back. Then find one local story that proves your public value, and tell it well. The sector's next story should start with what universities give back, and every one of us can help write it!
Thank you for spending this time with me. If this episode sparked something for you, hit subscribe, so you never miss the next one. And our full season, with guests from leading universities around the world, is coming very soon. Head to Jonathan Sabarre dot com and sign up, so you're the first to know when it launches. Until next time, keep building something great.